Iranians Love Krispy Kreme

Olympic Dream Falls Through Donut Hole

This may be an example of how the media trumpets stories and fails to give the same amount of coverage when it turn out to be false.

You might remember the story of Iranian judo champion, Arash Miresmaeili who withdrew from a preliminary round match because he refused to fight an Israeli.

I nearly posted a blog about the incident, focusing more on the extreme anger this athlete felt towards his opponent rather than whether it was right or wrong.

Mireshmaeili trained everyday for the past four years, was an accomplished judo champion and yet his hatred and personal beliefs were so strong that he denied himself his dream of participating in the Olympics. Now that’s hatred that I can admire!

Unfortunately, the facts got in the way of a good yarn. Mireshmaeili didn’t withdraw from the match because of his hatred of Israel but because he loved Krispy Kreme. In hindsight, the story did seem a bit odd

On Friday, the New York Times sports columnist, George Vecsey reported that the Mireshmaeili failed to make weight and the Iranian government use the opportunity to take a swipe at Israeli’s right to exist. The amount of coverage regarding the correction was nearly nonexistent and odd since it would have neatly dovetailed with these Games being politicized more than normal.

For instance, George Bush used the Olympics in campaign spots to the protestation of Iraqis and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Greeks vehemently protested Colin Powell attending the closing ceremonies and there was also the general paranoia that some events were stacked in the Americans’ favor. Why wouldn’t news that a government fabricated a political torpedo trump those other stories?

The answer: Americans have no inkling about what is going on between Israel and Arab countries or specifically what the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is about. Why muddle a good story with over 50 years worth of background information when you could be using the space to write about good old ‘Mericans winning medals.